Sotah - Chapter One

Introduction to Hilchos Sotah

They include three mitzvot: one positive commandment and two negative commandments. They are:

1) To treat a sotah according to the laws governing the jealousy admonition, as prescribed by the Torah;
2) Not to place oil on her sacrifice;
3) Not to place frankincense upon it.

These mitzvot are explained in the chapters that follow.

The admonition of jealousy1 stated in the Torah [Numbers 5:14], "And he will adjure his wife," means the following. He tells her in the presence of witnesses: "Do not enter into privacy with this and this man."

This applies even if the man [under suspicion] is her father, her brother, a gentile, a servant or a man who is impotent and incapable of having an erection or fathering a child.2

The term "enter into privacy" mentioned in the Torah [Ibid.:13] refers to entering into privacy with the man concerning whom she was warned, in the presence of two witnesses, not to enter into privacy.3

If she remains with him long enough to engage in relations - i.e., the amount of time necessary to roast an egg and swallow it,4 she is forbidden to her husband5 until she drinks the bitter water, and [her faithfulness] is checked. In an era when [the probe of] the waters of the sotah is unavailable, she is forbidden to her husband forever and is divorced without receiving the [money due her by virtue of] her ketubah.6

If [a husband] warns his wife with regard to two men at the same time, telling her: "Do not enter into privacy with so and so, and so and so," she is forbidden [to her husband] until she drinks [the waters] if she enters into privacy with the two men at the same time,7 and remains there long enough to engage in relations. [This applies] even if [the two men] are her two brothers or her father and her brother.

If he told her in the presence of two [men]: "Do not speak to so and so," this is not considered to be a warning. Even if she enters into privacy with him in the presence of witnesses and remains there long enough to engage in relations, she is not forbidden to [her husband], nor can she be required to drink [the bitter water] because of such a warning.

Similarly, if he told her, "Do not enter into privacy with him," and witnesses saw her speaking with him, she is not considered to be having entered into privacy. She is not forbidden to [her husband], nor can she be required to drink [the bitter water].

Similarly, if she was not warned at all, and two witnesses came and testified that she entered into privacy with a man and remained long enough to engage in relations, she is not forbidden to [her husband],8 nor can she be required to drink [the bitter water].

If he told her: "Do not enter into privacy with so and so," and named a boy below the age of nine,"9 or he told her: "Do not enter into privacy with this animal," this is not a [binding] warning.

[These laws are derived as follows:] The Torah [ibid.] states: "And a man had relations with her." This excludes a minor and an animal. She is not forbidden to her husband because of them.

When a husband forgoes a warning before his wife enters into privacy with [the man in question], the warning is nullified, and it is as if he had never issued a warning to her [regarding him]. If, however, he forgoes the warning after she enters into privacy with him, the warning cannot be nullified.10

If he divorces his wife, it is as if he has nullified the warning. If he remarries her, he must issue a second warning [for her to be bound by it].

If [the husband] issued a warning to [his wife] in the presence of two [witnesses] and then saw her enter into privacy with the man concerning whom she was warned, and she remained long enough to engage in relations, she becomes forbidden to him. He must divorce her and pay her [the money due her by virtue of her] ketubah.11

Similarly, if he hears people gossiping about her after she has been warned, that she entered into privacy with the man in question, to the extent that the women who weave at night by the moonlight chatter about her, saying that she committed adultery with the man concerning whom she has been warned, her husband is forbidden to remain married to her and must instead divorce her and pay her [the money due her by virtue of] her ketubah.12

[The following rules apply when] one witness comes and testifies that, after a warning was issued, she entered into privacy with the man concerning whom she was warned and remained long enough to engage in relations. If [the husband] considers [the witness] to be faithful, and he relies on him, he must divorce her and pay her [the money due her by virtue of] her ketubah.13 If [he does] not [rely on that person], his wife remains permitted to him.14

The court should issue a warning to the following women [who are suspected of immodest behavior]: a woman whose husband has become a deaf-mute or has lost control of his mental faculties, one whose husband is overseas or one whose husband is imprisoned. The intent is not to have [such a woman] drink [the bitter water],15 but rather to disqualify her from receiving [the money due her by virtue of] her ketubah.16

What is implied? If the court hears that people are gossiping about [a particular woman], they call her and tell her: "Do not enter into privacy with so and so." If witnesses come afterwards and testify that she entered into privacy with the man concerning whom she was warned, and remained long enough to engage in relations, the court prohibits her [from engaging in relations] with her husband forever and tears up her marriage contract.

When her husband returns, regains his health or is released from prison, he must give her a get.17 He cannot require her to drink [the bitter water], because he did not administer the warning himself.

[The following rules apply if a woman was required to] drink the bitter water [because of her husband's suspicion of a particular man] and did not die as a result of it, and afterwards, her husband gave her a warning with regard to that same man. If she enters into privacy with him, he cannot make her drink because of him a second time. Instead, she becomes forbidden to her husband forever and must be divorced without receiving [the money due her by virtue of] her ketubah.18

If, however, her husband issued a warning to her regarding another man, and she entered into privacy with him in the presence of witnesses, she can be forced to drink the waters again. Indeed, this can happen several times, provided each time her husband has her drink because of another man.

If a woman's husband had her drink [the bitter water] because of a specific man and then divorced her and she remarried, her second husband can issue a warning to her with regard to the same man. If she enters into privacy with him, her husband can make her drink [the bitter water], because he is her second husband. Even if a hundred men married this woman one after the other, they can all have her drink [the bitter water] because of this same man.

[The following laws apply if] a woman was warned by her husband and then entered into privacy [with the man in question] after the warning, thus causing her to be required to drink [the bitter water]. If [even] one witness comes and states that she engaged in sexual relations with the man regarding whom she was warned in his presence, the woman is forbidden to her husband forever. She may not drink [the bitter water],19 and must be divorced without receiving [the money due her by virtue of] her ketubah. This applies even if the witness who testifies concerning her adultery is also one of the witnesses who testifies that she entered into privacy with [the man regarding whom she was warned].20

[This ruling is derived from Numbers 5:13]: "There is no witness against her."21

Even a woman, a servant, a maid-servant or someone disqualified from testifying because of [the transgression of] a Rabbinic prohibition, and even a relative,22 may testify with regard to a woman suspected of infidelity, saying that she committed adultery. This causes her to be forbidden to her husband forever, to be prevented from drinking [the bitter water] and to be divorced without receiving [the money due her by virtue of] her ketubah.

[The rationale is] that since the Torah accepts the testimony of one witness with regard to [the woman's] adultery [we see that the formal laws of testimony do not apply]. Therefore, anyone's testimony is accepted with regard to this matter.

Even the five women who we assume hate each other23 can offer testimony regarding each other,24 saying that they committed adultery [in these circumstances]. Their testimony is accepted with regard to causing her to be forbidden to her husband and not [to compel her] to drink [the bitter water]. It is not a sufficient basis to cause her to forfeit [the money due her by virtue of] her ketubah. Instead, she collects [the money due her by virtue of] her ketubah and leaves [his household].25

If one acceptable witness comes and says that the woman committed adultery, she is not required to drink [the bitter water], as we stated. If another witness comes and contradicts his testimony, saying: "She did not commit adultery," the statements [of the second witness] are disregarded.26

[The rationale is] with regard to a sotah, [the testimony of] one witness is considered equivalent to [that of] two [witnesses in ordinary matters]. Thus, the testimony of the second witness cannot nullify the testimony of the first witness, which is considered to be equivalent to [that of] two witnesses.27

If, however, both come at the same time28 and one says: "She committed adultery," and the other says, "She did not commit adultery,"29 or one says: "She committed adultery," and two others say, "She did not commit adultery,"30 she must drink [the bitter water].

When one acceptable witness and many women or unacceptable witnesses come at the same time, and the acceptable witness says that the woman committed adultery, while the women or the unacceptable witnesses say that she did not, she is required to drink [the bitter water].31 [The rationale is that the testimony of] one acceptable witness and [that of] many unacceptable witnesses are considered to be of equal weight.

If all the witnesses are unacceptable, the ruling depends on the majority.

What is implied? If two women say she committed adultery, and three say she did not, she must drink [the bitter water]. If three say she did not commit adultery and four say that she did, she is not required to drink. If an equal number of women espouse each position, she must drink [the waters].32

In all instances that we said that a sotah should not drink [the waters] because of testimony that she committed adultery, she is forbidden to her husband forever and must be divorced without receiving [the money due her by virtue of] her ketubah, for she was forbidden because [she received a] warning and entered into privacy [with the said man]. And she is prevented from drinking the waters, [which could] cause her [to be] permitted, because of the presence of the witness, as we explained.33